Compromise
by taengerine
Summary: Neither of them was exactly romantic, but they still tried anyway. RyomaxSakuno.


_A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a fluffy RyoSaku for the occasion. They've been a couple for a while in this, so Sakuno's going to be more open with Ryoma. I have to warn you though, this was written in the wee hours of the morning. In other words, it's going to be far from perfect. But hope you like it anyway :)_

Edit_note: I officially feel like bashing fanfiction for deleting all my dashes/symbols that separate scenes :( So if you see any major random scene warp, just keep that in mind. _

_Disclaimer: No PoT characters are mine. _

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Compromise

Sakuno released an apprehensive sigh and stole another peek at him. Ryoma-kun was still standing there, eyes fixed intently on the package he'd just received.

Well, she'd finally done it. A scarf was a reasonable gift, wasn't it? She got the idea of knitting him one last year, and she'd been working on it for a good while to have it ready for Valentine's Day. And if Sakuno was allowing herself to shed her modesty a little, it wasn't half-bad either. White and emerald-green to match the tints of his hair, made of fuzzy cotton, and warm as anything-yes, she was quite proud of it. Which didn't help explain why her boyfriend was staring at it like he'd never seen one in his life.

She'd given it to him, at least, albeit not without some stammering. Even if they were together now, she didn't know how he'd react to such a present, and she was plenty anxious to know whether he liked it or planned to discard it as soon as he got home. It was one of the times when she fervently wished he weren't so nonvocal. All he'd said had been a short "Arigatou".

But she had tried. If he really _didn't_ like it…then that was his own personal taste.

The bell rang, and she scuttered back to her seat.

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The end of school marked an upheaval of amorous love calls, and students rushed out of class joyously to spend time with their objects of affection. Soon, the room was empty save for Sakuno, Tomoka jabbering away next to her, and Ryoma-kun.

"Ne, Sakuno."

She turned after reassuring Tomoka she could leave, to find Ryoma-kun had materialized beside her desk, hands behind his back, looking uneasy about something. "Ryoma-kun?"

He didn't say anything at first, but then blurted out, "It's Valentine's Day."

"Why, yes, it is," she agreed pleasantly. A thought fed through her mind then, with how disconcerted he seemed. Maybe he didn't like her scarf. Maybe he was going to return it. Would he do such a cruel thing? Sakuno felt some doubt trickle in.

Ryoma fidgeted some more until he finally brought out whatever he'd been holding. A small red box with a neatly tied white ribbon filled Sakuno's vision.

"I know usually only girls give stuff on Valentine's Day in Japan and I know I'm supposed to wait till White Day, but I decided to do something different this year," he swiftly said, stumbling a few times, and Sakuno had to concentrate to catch his sentence with how fast he was speaking.

"Is this for me?"

Glad his mini-introduction was over, Ryoma held back a derisive snort. "No one else is around."

"Mou, Ryoma-kun. You really didn't have to do this."

"Just open it."

Sliding the top off, she gave a soft gasp as a silver necklace glinted back at her, reflecting the light in its fine chainwork filigree. _Oh_…Sakuno was at a loss for words as she gently scooped it out of its cotton padding. A small charm, a smooth circle with a hole in the center, hung off of it, and she warmed at the simplicity of it all. It was just like Ryoma-kun to not get something garishly fancy and decorative, but stick to more plain tastes. She appreciated it too- she wasn't a flouncy girl who believed 'bigger things are better', and the necklace was beautiful, in any case. Appealing. One of those things that made you want to focus only on that.

She examined the charm more closely, and…wait, was it a tennis ball?! She blinked. It was, undoubtedly. From even a distance of only 2 feet away it might look like a simple, silver ring, but the pattern of the loop inside definitely snaked around like on a tennis ball. She wondered how in the world Ryoma-kun had managed to acquire such an ornament, before glancing at him; he was blushing a shy red now, and Sakuno giggled at the figure in front of her. It wasn't every day one was privileged enough to see the young prince blush, after all, and she took pleasure in the fact that she was one of the few who could. No matter how aloof or arrogant or indestructible or calculating or smart-aleck-know-it-all he might seem on the outside, he was really still kind of an innocent kid within.

"It's not that funny," Ryoma mumbled, diverting his gaze away from her.

"Ryoma-kun's gift is certainly very unique," she teased playfully, and he looked up hopefully. As hopefully as Echizen Ryoma can look, anyway.

"Do you like it?" Golden eyes directed all their attention to the receiver. Who knew sending presents could be so stressful?

Sakuno pretended to consider for a moment, although her heart felt a little torn at him for not knowing the answer to such an obvious question. "Well, let's see. It's a necklace, right? And girls are supposed to love any sort of jewelry. And it has to do tennis, which I _do_ like even if I'm not that good. And Ryoma-kun gave it to me. So then, yes, I do like your present," she decided finally, and smiled cheerfully as his face suddenly unclouded with relief.

There was a moment of contented silence between the two, before Ryoma spoke hesitantly, "Are…you going to put it on?"

"Oh!" Sakuno exclaimed, surprised. Honestly, the thought hadn't even occurred to her yet, but of course the natural thing to do would be to wear it. Stupid, that her boyfriend needed to remind her of such common actions. Typical.

She carefully undid the clasp- it'd be horrible if she accidentally broke something else again- and slid the necklace around her neck, pushing her braids out of the way. Her clumsy fingers lost grip though, and the chain tumbled out of her hand. She sighed as she rearranged her hold. She'd never been good at putting on jewelry. Especially ones with clasps.

Several futile and embarrassed attempts later, she firmly came to the conclusion that necklaces were probably holding some grudge against her, with how this one was acting and all. The two ends of it just wouldn't connect, and she'd even tried doing it backwards, to no avail. That made her eyes feel strained.

"Need any help?" came an amused voice, and Sakuno turned exasperatedly to a smirking Ryoma next to her.

"Yes,_ please_. Before I somehow manage to break it."

He wordlessly held out a hand, knowing her less-than-graceful tendencies, and she passed it over. Deftly, with the practiced ease of years and years of dealing with miniscule movements, he snapped the clasp open and fluidly stepped behind Sakuno, sweeping her hair to one side and steadily working the delicate metal. His light touch on her skin caused her to involuntarily tense, and when he finished she took a deep breath to calm her fluttering heart. She'd gotten better at hiding it, but Ryoma-kun still held an ever-present power over her.

The cold of the silver was soothing. She regarded the charm hovering below her collarbone, admiring its purity, noting what a difference there was between the giver, who- despite everything- was actually fierce and warm, and the gift, which would remain forever cool. But that was exactly what she loved about Ryoma-kun- how contradictory he was to everything else, and how simple, yet complex, he was at the same time.

She peered up at him demurely, thanking him mentally; she knew he'd get the message. His expression changed into one resembling a satisfied cat's.

Then she saw the time. "Ah, Ryoma-kun! You're late for practice, aren't you?"

"Eh?" His eyes flickered over to the clock nearby and promptly widened with surprise. "Oh _dammit_," he swore, and with a speed that could rival Kamio-kun's, began throwing together his belongings.

"Ryoma-kun," Sakuno admonished reprovingly.

"Sorry," was the hurried response, and with bags in tow, dashed out of the room with a "Gotta go! See you later!"

Sakuno looked at the clock again. Less than a minute. She chuckled.

Suddenly the door was thrown open, and her head jerked up to see who it was. Ryoma-kun, still laden with his tennis bag and school bag and books, barreled into the room and stopped right in front of her, placing a gentle kiss on her head. Then he abruptly whirled around and ran out again, this time calling out, "Happy Valentine's Day!" before he vanished.

It took her a moment to process that he'd said the phrase in English, but she knew the words well enough to recognize it. A little laugh escaped her, and her hand closed around her new tennis ball necklace as she went over the day's events.

Obaa-san would be coaching for a while, which meant she could go down and visit the courts. And of course, Ryoma-kun would be there too…

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"Tadaima."

"Welcome home, Ryoma-kun!" Nanako appeared from where she'd been in the kitchen, and her usually sweet voice took on a conspiratorially coy tinge. "Did you give it to her?"

"Un."

"Did she like it?"

"Un."

"Did she give you anything?"

"A scarf."

"Really? A scarf?"

"Un."

"Do you like it?"

Ryoma seemed to not have heard, but then the corners of his mouth quirked up as he answered the question genuinely.

"Yeah. I do. A lot."

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_A/N: Just in case, the charm is basically shaped like a doughnut x)_

_Reviews would be lovely!_


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